As Basile Senesi, the Head of Sales at Fundbox explains, his end users are the ultimate decision-makers:

When you’re evaluating a sales acceleration tool, you need to understand your reps’ capacity […] Don’t just consider it from a macro-down view, but look at the user-level, too. Will it stick with your team? Part of why Yesware works here is our reps have bought into the value.

Prospects who rate their pain between 7 to 10 are your most qualified.

Questions to ask:1. What does your current process look like?
2. Where do you run into hurdles?
3. What problems are you trying to solve by looking at solutions like ours? How often do you run into those problems? How much do they bother you on a scale from 1 to 10?

4. Timing: Find Out How Soon They’re Willing To Act

There shouldn’t be any surprises: It’s important that you have a clear understanding of when your prospect will be ready for your product or service.

The bottom line: Knowing their timing helps you estimate your timing for first-touch to conversion.

If their timeline is longer than your average sales cycle and the revenue isn’t worth the wait, you’ll want to revisit the opportunity when the timing is right.

To gauge this, you need to understand:

Their buying stage: Have they already passed through Problem Recognition, Information Search, and (at least begun) Evaluation of Alternatives?

The urgency that drives that timeframe (so that it doesn’t slip into the next quarter).

Questions to ask:1. Walk me through the evaluation process. How long have you been looking for a solution?
2. What types of time constraints are you working with?
3. What are the implications if you don’t meet the timeline?
4. Are there any contracts from other solutions you’re already signed to? Until when?

Note: Use this template to follow up with prospects who you need to loop back with later:

Hi {!First Name},

I know we’re still in a holding pattern, but I wanted to send over a customer case study that speaks at how {!Customer Name} leveraged {!Type of product/service you offer} to {!What they accomplished — HARD METRIC}.

What sort of timelines do you think we’re looking at to pick this back up?

Thanks,

Pro Tip: Use this tool to schedule your email out right after the “let’s revisit” conversation.